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Thursday, March 21, 2019

For thousands
of years, calculation - numerical and symbolic - was the
price we had to pay to do or use mathematics. But that is no
longer the case, says Dr. Keith Devlin, mathematician at Stanford University in California.

Professor Keith Devlin

Since the late 1980s, we have had
machines that can perform any step-by-step mathematical
procedure, systems that can handle far more variables than a
human ever could: they never make mistakes and they do
enormously complex mathematics in a fraction of a
second.

Moreover, many of those tools are easily available
and free...

Professor KeithDevlin, Director of the Stanford Mathematics Outreach
Project in the Graduate School of Education, delivers a
public lecture at the University of Auckland discussing how
the rise of the computer has removed many of the complex
calculations which used to be carried out by hand, how that
has changed the mathematics profession and the impact on
teaching the next generation.

Keith Devlin is a co-founder
and Executive Director Emeritus of the Stanford’sH-Star
institute and a co-founder of the StanfordmediaXresearch network. He is a Fellow
of the World Economic Forum, the American Association for
the Advancement of Science, and the American Mathematical
Society. Recipient of the Pythagoras Prize, the Peano
Prize, and the Carl Sagan Award, he is known as "the Math
Guy" on USA National Public Radio.

This free public
lecture will be held on Tuesday, 26 March at 6.15pm at the
University of Auckland in Lecture Theatre PLT1, Building
303, 38 Princes Street. Refreshments from 5.30pm, Level 4
Common Space. All welcome.Read more...

Recommended Reading

Finding Fibonacci: The Quest to Rediscover the Forgotten Mathematical Genius Who Changed the World

The Global Distance Learning Market Research Report Forecast 2019-2025:
Is a valuable source of insightful data for business strategists.

Distance-Learning-Market

It
provides the industry overview with growth analysis and historical &
futuristic cost, revenue, demand and supply data (as applicable). The
research analysts provide an elaborate description of the value chain
and its distributor analysis. This Distance LearningMarket study provides comprehensive data which enhances the understanding, scope and application of this report.

Technology plays an important role in enabling the growth of the
country’s economy and the education sector in particular. Higher
education institutes are increasingly opting for online courses.

Owing to innovations in distance learning programs for both students
and working professionals, the distance learning market in India will
post an exponential growth in the coming years. Though the majority of
higher education institutions offering distance courses mainly cater to
the undergraduate population, a rise in the number of institutions
offering online courses and degree programs, will attract more
enrollments from the postgraduate student category.

Deb Littlejohn admits it can be difficult to keep college
students – especially more than 100 of them – interested in particular courses.
That’s why the graphic design professor turned to DELTA for help shaking the
stigma that all theory courses are, well, boring.She won a DELTA Grant
last year that will bring her graphic design theory course textbook to
life and, she hopes, engage her students in an entirely new way...

There are six types of DELTA Grants,
from “rapid design course grants” that enable faculty to quickly
produce quality online and distance education courses to “blended
learning grants” that combine the best of face-to-face and online
learning practices.Read more... Source: NC State News

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Mathematics author Matthew Parker explains what happens when maths do not get it right.

Photo: Screenshot from youtube video

Matthew Parker is an Australian recreational
mathematics author who has helped popularise maths via videos. He is
YouTube personality and serves as the Public Engagement in Mathematics
Fellow at Queen Mary University of London.

As a former maths teacher, Parker has a unique way of
communicating the many wonderful and complex wonders of the maths world.
In this video, he describes what happens when maths go wrong...

The inspiring and funny talk is courtesy of The Royal Institution.
"The Royal Institution is a 200 year old independent charity based in
London dedicated to connecting people with the world of science through
events, education, and the CHRISTMAS LECTURES,"reads the YouTube channel's about section.

Stefan A. Perun, assistant professor in the Department of Public Administration at Villanova University and Edward A. Liva, director of the Graduate Tax Program and a professor of practice at Villanova University School of Law reports, Courses with a great deal of technical content for application in
practice such as law, business, or STEM courses are oftentimes designed
in what amounts to an information delivery method.

Photo: iStock

The professor
provides the necessary information for students to memorize and repeat
back in the course assessments.Indeed, the online environment makes disseminating recorded lectures
and written material fast and convenient, and students readily expect to
be tested on the materials provided. Even in course designs with
synchronous components, professors may lecture or answer questions, yet
seldom observe how students are synthesizing or interacting with the
course material. Moreover, delivering large amounts of content and
assessing students’ recall of that content misses a central piece of a
student-centered pedagogy, namely ensuring that students achieve a deep
understanding of the content through opportunities to apply the
technical information to practical problems.

One way to augment online course designs that would help students
practice applying technical knowledge is using bridge questions. Bridge
questions require students to solve a practical problem or case by
applying the content of the course to a real-world problem...

A final note on using bridge questions; the students’ independent and
collaborative work on them should be graded, otherwise they may wait
until others (especially the professor) solve the problems for them. In
courses with synchronous components, this can be accomplished as a
participation grade. In asynchronous designs, graded participation
should be clearly defined activities that hold students accountable for
engaging the bridge questions in meaningful ways. In any case, using
bridge questions is a simple way to transform any online course from a
content-focused passive learning experience to an engaging,
students-centered one.Read more... Source: Faculty Focus

YouTube has long had a reputation as a hive of conspiracy theories,
misinformation, and pseudoscience. All these accusations are, more or
less, true — if you’re vulnerable to the wooing of Flat Earthers,
anti-vaxxers, 9/11 truthers, the alt-right, and every other sort of
lunatic fringe flourishing in 2018, they’re all there, waiting for you
on YouTube.

But as with all the other “platforms” that dominate the internet —
Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, etc — YouTube is more than a morass of
anti-scientific nutters. The site is also home to much of the web’s best
and most compelling popular science content.

Like pretty much everyone, I studied science and maths for the first
few years of high school and eventually pursued chemistry and maths
right through year 12. I found the concepts involved fascinating, but I
was never much good at the actual work. I was less interested in
learning how to solve quadratic equations than I was in why quadratic
equations could be solved. What I wanted, I guess, was popular science.
And one day a couple of years ago, tooling around on the internet while I
should have been working, I found it on YouTube.

My YouTube rabbit hole started with Numberphile, the maths-based
channel that forms part of Australian videographer Brady Haran’s YouTube
empire...

It’s not just mathematics that benefits from the possibilities for
visual illustration that YouTube allows. If you search, you’ll find
people who take similar approaches to physics, chemistry, biology,
electronics, along with a heap of generalists who address all these
topics and more.Read more Source: gulfnews.com

With the days of rote learning behind us, and demand for experiential learning taking precedence, academic institutions will have to majorly transform their teaching methods, continues Hindustan Times.

Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto

A solid infrastructure is needed to overhaul the learning processes and create spaces that are conducive to experiential learningThe learning and development process of the Gen Z is undergoing
massive changes with the advent of technology. The education system, by
fueling the evolution of teaching methods and tools used in the
classroom has been driven by the demands of the digital natives, whose
lives revolve around digital screens and connected devices. Devices like
PCs, laptops and printers have become the functional extension of this
generation, at school as well as home.

With the days of rote
learning behind us, and demand for experiential learning taking
precedence, academic institutions will have to majorly transform their
teaching methods. A solid infrastructure is needed to overhaul the
learning processes and create spaces that are conducive to experiential
learning. Around 51% of students surveyed in a Barnes and Noble College
study, show that they learn best by doing, while only 12% said they
learn through listening.1 So how can institutions enable this “learning
by doing” experiential methodology in the classroom?

With
technology improving the overall attitude toward learning, now more than
ever, schools and colleges will have to put in concerted efforts to
create a learning environment that focuses on problem-solving. After
all, the real world is full of challenges that needs quick thinking for
solutions. To make Gen Z students understand the real-life application
of what they learn in the classroom we need to blend online and print
mediums in equal proportion...

Digital learning goes beyond the four walls of educational institutes,
reaching far and wide to those who want to learn on-demand, on their own
time and even at their own suitable pace. Experiential learning
complements this by giving an opportunity to apply the theoretical
knowledge in practical domains. With the lives of Gen Z revolving around
technology, the expectation of having digital learning tools deeply
integrated into the education system and at the workplace is obvious.Read more... Source: Hindustan Times

As learners and employers seek education and training that is cheaper,
faster and better, forward-looking colleges and universities are
embracing new roles as curators, certifiers and integrators, writesKathleen deLaski, founder and president of the Education Design Lab and Rufus Glasper, president and CEO of the League for Innovation in the Community College.

Photo: Pexels

Higher education is being remade from within.

Federal policy is getting all the attention of late, with the U.S.
Department of Education considering significant changes to the rules
that shape higher education across the country and Congress
simultaneously working to update the Higher Education Act for the first
time in more than a decade. And both certainly stand to have a
far-reaching impact on the landscape of colleges and universities.

But the real revolution in higher education isn’t being led by policy
makers. It’s being driven by individual learners and employers who are
demanding that learning become cheaper, better and faster. This is the
learner revolution.And we’ve learned some critical lessons about how to harness its
potential over the past five years through the Education Design Lab’s
work with over 100 forward-thinking colleges and universities...

We see five promising models for institutions looking to harness the learner revolution. These models -- highlighted in our new report,
"The Learner Revolution: How Colleges Can Thrive in a New Skills and
Competencies Marketplace" -- are informed by more than five years of
experience using human-centered design to help institutions transform
the learner experience.Read more... Source: Inside Higher Ed

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Udemy, the online learning platform,
is to get a local presence in India with an employee hub in Gurugram,
according to a report in the Economic Times.

Photo: MediaNama.com

According to chief executive Gregg Coccari, Udemy’s rapid growth in
India is a testimony to the level of demand from students, instructors,
and companies for affordable skills training...

Unlike Coursera, Udemy is less formal
and more self-paced. It is designed for specific learning requirements
while Coursera is more like a virtual university that teaches
traditional subjects. Built on the premise that not all teachers are
found in traditional classrooms. Udemy allows experts everywhere to
develop courses.

Udemy has a global network of 30
million students and 42,000 teachers. For companies, it offers a
subscription to its business courses and a platform to create
proprietary courses.Read more...

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About Me

Hello, my name is Helge Scherlund and I am the Education Editor and Online Educator of this personal weblog and the founder of eLearning • Computer-Mediated Communication Center.
I have an education in the teaching adults and adult learning from Roskilde University, with Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) and Human Resource Development (HRD) as specially studied subjects. I am the author of several articles and publications about the use of decision support tools, e-learning and computer-mediated communication. I am a member of The Danish Mathematical Society (DMF), The Danish Society for Theoretical Statistics (DSTS) and an individual member of the European Mathematical Society (EMS). Note: Comments published here are purely my own and do not reflect those of my current or future employers or other organizations.